


A Chance Encounter

by ScientistSalarian



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-12-04 10:14:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11553057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScientistSalarian/pseuds/ScientistSalarian
Summary: This is treat for Spec Recs for BethAdastra who requested something where these two meet before Andromeda. Silliness and sweetness ensues.





	A Chance Encounter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BethAdastra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BethAdastra/gifts).



Sara Ryder sat in the large auditorium with a bored expression on her face. She tapped her foot against the ground impatiently and sighed heavily. The orientation hadn't even begun and she was already trying to think of an excuse to leave early. It's not that the presentations wouldn't be interesting but sitting in a crowded, stuffy room for any length of time was always tedious. Scott turned to her and rolled his eyes. 

"I know you're trying to come up with a way out of this but you know Dad will kill us if we bail right? This is supposed to be 'important information'." He said sarcastically. Sara's brother wasn't any happier to be there than she was. It was the third official orientation for Andromeda Initiative participants and they were required at attend at least two. Sara hadn't even bothered to find out what topics were going to be covered that day, she just knew she'd have to be there anyway or never hear the end of it from her father. She figured she may as well show up and save herself the trouble. She looked over at the tables filled with food and drinks and decided to wander over and see what they had.

She got in line and a tall turian with stark white skin and blue facial markings stood behind her. He reached for two plates and gave one to her. "Thanks!" She said warmly. "What do you think the chances are that they'll let us out of this thing early?" 

"I don't think they're holding us against our will." He answered. "You could leave now if you wanted." 

"Well, do you want to be here, or is there somewhere else you'd rather be?" She asked.

"I'd rather be at Purgatory enjoying the last few days before departure, but here I am." he said wryly. "So I guess we are being held against our will aren't we." 

Sara pretended to look around for snipers or C-Sec agents and turned back to the turian. "I don't see any defenses or security around. Wanna make a break for it?" she offered only half jokingly. "I definitely know a place we could get better food than...whatever all this is."

"I don't think that would make for a very good first impression." He said with a hint of sadness in his voice. He actually found himself excited by the idea of shirking his duties for a day to join a strange human on an adventure. "Also, don't we need this information so we don't get killed out there?" Ever the practical one, he knew that he had to stay to learn whatever pertinent information they were about to present. He didn't think the Initiative would waste valuable time if it wasn't vital.

Sara looked at him and filled her plate with a menagerie of breakfast foods from Earth that looked like they definitely weren't cooked on Earth, or by anyone who had seen Earth food before. "Why worry about dying 600 years from now when it looks like this omelette might just kill me today?" 

He nodded at her sagely. The dextro food didn't look much more edible than the levo offerings. He gingerly took a brown, vaguely food-shaped item, and placed it in the center of his plate and grimaced internally. "You may have a point there." 

They each looked over the table one last time before retreating to their seats. Sara reached out for his arm and touched it gently. "Come sit with us!" She invited him sweetly. She hoped she wasn't coming across as too eager but she had to admit, he was very handsome. If she was going to be stuck in a lecture for hours at a time, she figured she may as well enjoy the company of a nice-looking turian. 

"Who's 'us'?" He asked warily. He wasn't sure if the small human was crazy or just overly friendly. He sincerely hoped it was the latter though. She still had her hand on his arm and he found himself enjoying the oddly familiar way she acted with him.

"Just my twin brother and me." She waved at Scott and the turian followed as she led him to their seats. 

"Who's this?" Scott asked genially. 

Sara realized that she hadn't even asked his name and here she was hauling him across the auditorium. She looked at him sheepishly realizing her faux pas. "I um...didn't catch your name..." 

"Tiran Kandros." He answered, "And you are?" 

"Sara Ryder, this is my younger brother Scott." She gave a cheeky smile as she introduced him.

"One minute younger. I swear, she never lets me live it down." He slumped in his chair pretending to look defeated. They made small talk for a few minutes before the presentations finally began. 

An hour later Sara found herself getting ansty. She looked over at Tiran and tried to gauge his interest in the current topic, Farming in a New Galaxy. His eyes were fixated on the presenters, a tall green and orange salarian man, and a shorter more reddish toned salarian woman. First she poked Scott in the shoulder asking if he wanted to leave but he shrugged her off. He was finding the topic surprisingly engaging. Sara nudged her new turian friend and he glanced down at her. 

"I'm heading out to get some air, care to join me?" She whispered. He checked the time on his omni-tool and couldn't believe that only a little over an hour had gone by. He nodded appreciatively and they politely excused themselves. They walked out out onto the terrace that overlooked the Presidium. She leaned against the railing taking in all the sights and sounds of the Citadel. "It's a bit weird isn't it? The realization that in a month, we'll leave this place forever." Her tone took on a more melancholy grit.

"It is." He stood next to her and looked over at the people milling about. "I hope we know what we're doing. Well, except you and I won't because we're out here instead of learning valuable information about replenishing our food supply." He said dryly. He was glad to be out of the densely packed room though. He didn't miss the voices droning on and on either.

"I'm just...a bit scared is all. Before, when my dad told me we were doing this, it seemed like this grand adventure. Travel 600 years, be the first explorers from our galaxy into a new one, it was all so idealistic. Now that it's almost here, I'm actually kind of terrified." She didn't know why she was pouring her heart out to a stranger, there was just something about him that gave her comfort. 

He slowly nodded in agreement. "We don't know what's out there, but we do have the Golden Worlds. At least we'll have a place to start when we get there." Tiran wanted to reassure her but deep down he knew that there were infinite possibilities for what they'd find when they actually arrived in Andromeda. 

"Yeah, Golden Worlds." She said wistfully. She stood there for a moment contemplating what they must be like. Just the name itself was the promise of something warm and rich. "There's something to be said for starting over fresh though, right?" Her tone was more optimistic now. "If things work out right, the only ones in the entire galaxy who will know my most embarrassing moments will be my brother and my dad. So I guess there's that to look forward to." 

Tiran laughed, "I do feel bad leaving behind my duties as a turian, but it will be nice to live a life for myself. I don't have anyone joining me so it will just be me...and you I guess. You'll be the only connection I have to this old life and I don't even really know you." He sounded amused by the absurdity of it all. 

"No pressure right? Being someone's only friend in an entire galaxy," She said chiding him.

"So we're already friends now." He teased. "Keep up this pace and we'll be married before we leave the Milky Way." 

"Are you proposing to me?" She said in her most over-the-top flirtatious voice. "My my, and you thought I moved fast."

"Just trying to keep up." He answered. He took a step towards her and put his arm around her shoulders. He was never one to be so up front but there was a certain chemistry between them that he couldn't deny. She just made him feel so...confident. Sara put her arm around his waist and they stood side by side. 

"So are you more of a live band kind of person for the reception or do you prefer a DJ?" She bit her lip to keep herself from laughing. She was enjoying their peculiar back and forth even more now.

"I'm going to say live band. You should choose the food though, I have terrible taste." They both finally devolved into a fit of laughter. Sara looked up at him as his mandibles wavered with the rhythm. "You are the most ridiculous person I have ever met." He finally said.

"Hey, you're just as ridiculous for playing along." She replied. He had to admit, she made a good point. He didn't really understand why he was going along with her in the first place, just that it felt right. Sara looked up at him and gave him an appreciative smile. "I'm glad you did play along though. I think I'm just nervous about this whole thing. Leaving home, leaving everything and everyone I know behind, it's just so daunting. You took my mind off of that for a bit so, thank you." She stood up on her toes and gave him a quick peck on his mandible.

Tiran felt himself grow warmer. He had never taken to someone as quickly as he'd taken to her. He pulled her in a bit closer and sighed. "Is this the last seminar you're going to?" He asked. She nodded back at him. He lifted the arm that held her omni-tool and punched in his contact information. "In the event that these things actually still work in Andromeda, send me a message when you arrive. I'm sure there will be a bar somewhere out there, and drinks will be on me." 

"I'll hold you to that." She said to him with a raised eyebrow. "Should we go back inside? I'm sure my brother is wondering where the hell we ended up."

Tiran knew she was right but he wasn't quite ready to leave her just yet. He turned to her and brushed his mouth against her cheek. "You kissed me and I didn't want to wait 600 years to return the favor." His voice was deep and heavy with the impending sense of finality of the decision to put their lives in the hands of Initiative. "It just...felt like the right thing to do."

"Kiss me again." She said suddenly. "We have no idea what we're getting into or if we'll even wake up after 600 years of travel. What if the cryopods malfunction, or someone forgets to wake us up or even worse, what if there's a planet made out of whatever inedible foodstuff they tried to serve us today." She was starting to panic a little bit and found herself rambling at him to try and calm herself.

He looked at her with kind eyes and held her close. He closed his eyes and kissed her. He meant to only kiss her gently but he found themselves locked in a tight embrace pouring passion into one-another. If she was right and wasn't just being alarmist, he was glad that one of his last days had her in it. He was glad that he kissed her. They spent a few moments lost in each other before regaining their senses. "You really better buy me that drink when we get there." She said catching her breath.

"As long as everything goes according to their meticulous plans, that's the first thing I'll do." He extended his arm to her and led her back inside.


End file.
